Category Archives: Mezzotint

Velcome to Balestrand.

23 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by in Mezzotint, Paintings

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From May 4th to June 26th my works will be on display at the Galleri Holmen in Balestrand, kicking off the Jazz Festival “Balejazz” on the first weekend of the exhibition period.

I will present some new work selected for this show in particular. The modestly sized 120 x 80 painting titled “Over Vikafjellet” has a rather strange “out of the car window” feel to it, and I was very ambivalent as to how well this photo (taken by the eager photographer Siv Helen during our journey across the country last summer) would work as painting. The horizon line is rally out of level, and this kept bothering me during the process. In the end it turned out rather interesting, and with a slightly different palette it makes  a nice expansion of the range.

In order to connect with the local audience, I found a nice subject for a small 23 x 23 mezzotint and made an edition for this show. The dramatic contrasts in this print is playing very well with the black and white. I hope my attempt to portray the “Keipen” will be well received with the locals.

I also had time for a tiny 17 x 9 mezzotint. This little “baby print” has a dusk or perhaps  dawn-feel, taken from our drive mentioned above. The area of Vikafjellet is located at the border between Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane, and forms the perimeter of the specific type of terrain I pursue to capture in my work.  In our region you find the rounded mountaintops, worn down by the Ice Age. On the other side, the dramatic peaks rising from the fjords.

 

Stort landskap i lite format.

26 Wednesday Jul 2017

Posted by in Mezzotint

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Det var på høg tid å fylla opp grafikkskuffene igjen. Eit par koparplater låg og skreik etter å bli valsa over med mezzotintvogga. Det tar lang tid å preparera platene, sjølv dei små, men når ein kjem så langt som til at ein kan byrja å polera inn motivet, er alt strev gløymt.

Denne gongen ville eg laga eit panoramaformat der eg har muligheten til å trykka i ulike lengder. Eg har også variert med ein og to plater der ein får motivet både med og utan skodde og ekstra skyer. Eg har mange minner frå å sitja i vindauga på hytta vår og sjå Håheimskaret “koka opp” skodde som velta oppover mot Jupaheiane.

 

“Flokatveitnuten og Solheimsgrønnut” Mezzotint. Ca. 50(Varierer)x24 cm. Variert trykk.

 

Frå tid til annan får eg bestillingar der ein kunde vil ha eit heilt, eller deler av eit opplag som skal gis i gåver til ansatte. Eg vart utfordra på tittelen “Svalhugne Augeblink”, og tenkte på motivet av Sørnuten, som eg har gjort utallige maleri- og kullversjonar av. Formatet var svært lite for å følgja eit budsjett som var gitt av kunden, men resultatet vart ganske artig.

Mezzotint Mot Sørnuten lite

“Svalhugne Augeblink” Mezzotint ca. 17×8,5 cm.

 

Two Mezzotint Prints

14 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by in Mezzotint

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After introducing mezzotints and discontinuing the run of mono prints, the display of works in exhibitions have become less of a struggle. Combining such a great variety of different techniques was getting complicated, and although the mono prints, with their abstract touch and wide color range worked very well on their own as individual pieces, they failed to merge with the flow of the sensation I was trying to accomplish with the exhibitions.

Mezzotints are usually printed as a monochrome singe plate deal. The range of tones very much makes up for the lack of multi layer effects. As the observant reader might have picked up on, I like my works to have a certain amount of distortion and imperfections. I had to find a way to add some fuss and atmospherical mood, and an additional plate using white ink proved to be a very good way to get the final touch. This second plate is very much a random event, giving the prints a great variation in mood and tone; some rather clean, others very rough. Alas it’s rather complicated to set up an on-line shop for the editions, given the fact that the prints are not identical and each individual print must be liste individually.

mezzo-bjergane

“Bjergane” Mezzotint 22×23 cm. Printed on Hänemule 300 g.

mezzo-kvamsstolen

“Frå Kvamsstølen” Mezzotint 30×24 cm. Printed on Hänemule 300 g.

A new line of prints.

21 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by in Behind the scenes, Mezzotint

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After discovering the fabulous possibilities of mezzotint printmaking, I decided to implement this in to my series of Norwegian landscapes in order to tie the prints closer to the style of the charcoal drawings, hence getting better continuity to my works. This has  especially been getting more and more evident during my exhibitions, as when shown together, the mono prints  always seem to come across as a series within the series, with their more abstract and colorful approach. I was looking for a better flow in the way my exhibitions are presented.

Introducing mezzotint plates as a basis, and then a roughly etched (plus sometimes other various mixed techniques) on second plate to give the print a weathered and atmospheric touch, gave me the perfect approach to get the line of prints desired.

Mezzotint is a painfully slow and hard, however rewarding process, as longs as you manage to stay on top of the challenge. I am now back to printing editions of 40, the absolute maximum the main plate (the mezzotint plate) would allow before it’s simply too worn to give the desired result.